Ammunition positioning device for guns



Dec. 23, 1952 G. w. KINZELMAN 2,622,483

AMMUNITION POSITIONING DEVICE FOR GUNS Filed July 18, 1949 22 5A 4 FIG. 3 /a FIG. 4 H6 5 INVENTOR GERALD W K/NZELMA/V ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 23, 1952 AMMUNITION POSITIONING DEVICE FOR GUNS Gerald W. Kinzelman, Chicago, Ill.

Application July 18, 1949, Serial No. 105,433

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) 3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for positioning articles in feedways, especially for positioning ammunition in the feedways of guns, to which end it comprises a material simplification of and improvement on the apparatus intended for the same purpose disclosed in United States Patent to Virgil C. Bowser, for Ammunition Positioning Device for Guns, No. 2,424,964 of August 5, 1947.

As in the foregoing patent, the instant positioning device is intended for use in 40 mm. antiaircraft guns of the Boiors type in which ammunition is positioned by hand between upwardly extending guides where it is engaged by feed pawls for positive movement into the breech mechanism of the gun. Prior to the making of the invention in the patent, the loading of ammunition into the feed guides had been a very exacting task, requiring considerable training and skill on the part of the operator. That task became more easily accomplished by use of the patented positioning device, but it was discovered that there was a percentage of times when it also was ineffectual in preventing feedway jams.

An additional factor somewhat in the disfavor of the patented device is the extent of maintenance involved in its use. While the structure is comparatively simple yet it necessarily consists of a fair number of parts, each of which is a potential trouble spot in the operation of the device. It has been found that both dis-advantages can be eliminated by a material reduction in the complexity of the mechanism with a notable increase in the efilciency thereof to the extent of totally avoiding all feedway jams.

At this point recognition is given the United States Patent to E. G. Parkhurst, No. 229,007 of June 22, 18.80, for Cartridge Feed Case for Machine Guns, as an early development on which the instant invention is also an improvement. In this patent a receiver is channeled full-length to hold the cartridges by their heads, this being done loosely and without any idea of affording them guidance to their destination, nor of reventing their flanges from overlapping since the possibility of jamming apparently was not needed to be taken into account.

Practical experience with the invention has shown that when the flange of a cartridge entering the feedway is initially guided to directly overlie the flange of the cartridge next below, and the restraint on said flange of the entering cartridge being so close that it cannot slip in front of and thereby overlap the flange of the cartridge next below, the enteringcartridge will have been properly started on its way through the feedway and there will not be any jam.

Therefore, in the light of the foregoing background an object of the invention is to provide a device for positioning ammunition in the feedway of a gun and while the ammunition is traversing the feedway from its entrance to the rammer tray of the gun, in such a manner that the flanges of the ammunition are prevented from overlapping, thus to avoid a jam further down in the feedway.

Another object of the invention is to so organize the rear guide of the feedway as to outline a space which in effect becomes a short and narrow slot by certain critical walls of which the flange of the uppermost cartridge of a preceding clip and of the lowermost cartridge of a newly entered clip are constrained to lie edge-on on top of each other, thereby to prevent overlapping and a subsequent feedway 3' am.

Another object of the invention is to pad the rear guide at such places as to leave but a slight clearance for the passage of the flange of the lowermost cartridge of each newly entered clip, thereby to properly orient said cartridge with respect to the uppermost cartridge of a clip already in the feedway.

Another object of the invention is to provide an ammunition positioning device for the feedway of a gun, the mechanical details of which have been confined to the lowest conceivable number of parts.

A further object of the invention is to so modify the feedway of the indicated type of machine gun as to insure aligning the bottom or initial round of a clip of ammunition with the radius of the three guide members of the feedway, thereby to prevent overlapping of the base flange of the uppermost cartridge of a clip on its way through the feedway by the base flange of the lowermost or leading cartridge of a clip freshly inserted in the feedway.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same be comes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a part of the loader assembly of a 40 mm. antiaircraft gun, illustrating the location of the auxiliary guides in the ammunition-clip feedway;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the feedway,

diagrammatically illustrating how theleading cartridge of a fresh clip is prevented from jamming in the feedway;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the rear guide of the feedway when viewed on a plane indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. is a vertical section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on the line (5-6 of Fig. 3.

Those parts of the existing machine gun with which the invention is directly concerned are briefly described as follows. The loader assembly. generally designated ID in Figs. 1 and 2, is to be identified as part of the left hand gun of a pair of antiaircraft guns such as seen in Patent 2,424,964. This assembly includes a front guide ll, center guide I2 and rear guide [3, each of arcuate form and all being struck on curves having a common center toward the front of the gun. These guides are so organized as to theoretically provide a direct and reliable passageway for the clip i4 (partly shown in Fig. 2) of ammunition to the rammer tray of the gun.

To the latter end the front guide H is channeled at l5 (Fig. 2) for the projectile nose l6 of each cartridge, the channel being flared at the entrance to aid in directing the nose into the channel. The center guide I2 is the most complex of the three because of duplicate gangs of feed pawls and stop pawls which are situated side by side in the right and left frames I1 and I8. These pawls are not concerned with the invention, hence are omitted from the drawings except for the showing of one gang of stop pawls 19 in Fig. l. The rear guide I3 is primarily concerned with the invention because here the structure has been modified to embody the principle of the invention.

As it stands, the rear guide 13 includes a rib 20 along which the base 2| of each cartridge slides on its way down the feedway (Fig. 6). This rib is flanked by right and left hand rails 22 and 23, the latter having screwed onto it what is known as the compression rail 24. The

throat thus outlined by the inside and adjacent surfaces of the rib 213, the right hand rail 22 and the inside edge of the compression rail 24 constitutes the feedway for the base portion of the cartridges, the nose being guided by the walls of the channel [5 as described above. While this passageway is direct enough, yet in actual practice its reliability has not always met the test of unimpeded firing. In fact, the most common loader failure is caused by jammed rounds, and the manner in which this fault has effectively been corrected is the subject of the present invention which is now described in detail.

Two auxiliary base guide pads 25 and 26 are secured respectively to the right hand rail 22 and to the compression rail 24 in the relationship shown in Fig. 6. The effect of these guides is to bolster the inside surface of the right hand rail and the inside edge of the compression rail, bringing these parts in more closely than before to the exact diameter of the base of the cartridge. Of the two auxiliary guides, the guide 25 is of the greatest importance since it occupies a position to check the flange 21 against the possibility of being canted as in Fig. 2 (uppermost chainline position) and thereby begin an undesirable feedway jam.

To the latter end the auxiliary guide 25 is screwed against the rail 22 and far enough forwardly of the rib 20 to define a space 28 which is about one-third greater than the flange 21 is thick. This space, in a sense, is a slot, and it needs only to be short since its sole function is to prevent the passage of a cartridge which is not properly aligned. The leading and trailing edges of the guide 25 are relieved at 29 and 30 to facilitate the passage of the flange through the space 28. The auxiliary guide 26 is required out of necessity to keep the cartridges centered in the feedway'. If the guide 25 were made double thickness out of an attempt to move the cartridge over into rubbing engagement with the inside edge of the rail 24 and thus obviate the need for the added guide 26, the result would be to throw the cartridge to one side of the center 3| and thus introduce another undesirable factor.

The guide 2 6 is made approximately twice as long as the guide 25 to provide the necessary facility for its attachment to the loader assembly. The compression rail 24 is accepted as the most convenient location for the fastening of said guide, and since rail 24 falls short of the altitude of the guide l3 it follows that guide 26 must be made long enough to reach down. The guide 26 is screwed at its lower half onto the rail 24 (Fig. 3), its upper half projecting up wards and free therefrom as shown. The upper end is rounded at 32 to facilitate the introduction of the cartridge clip, and the lower end is relieved as at 25a to clear the cartridge case which having reached that zone has become properly oriented in the feedway and no longer needs the side bearing afforded by the innermost edge of guide 26.

In operation, it is the practice to grasp a clip of four cartridges usually at the uppermost cartridge. Since the four cartridges are secured in the clip at their bases it follows that their weight will make them sag so that each cartridge will assume a different radial aspect than its neighbor. Consider this circumstance in connection with Fig. 2.

The uppermost cartridge of a clip already in the feedway is shown at 33. If the first cartridge of the next clip assumed the position at 34 itwould follow through with no jamming since it assumes the proper radial attitude in the feedway. However, in rapid loading the bottom cartridge' may take the position at 35, and this, in the absence of the auxiliary guide 25 is responsi ble for an immediately ensuing feedway jam.

As seenin Fig. 2 the flange 21 of the cartridge 35 has overlapped the front part of the flange of the cartridge 34 instead of lying edge-on over the top of it. If an attempt were made to prevent the ensuing wedging of the cartridge by lengthening the feedway, the cartridge might be fed into the loading tray improperly and cause malfunctioning of the gun. As brought out above, the auxiliary guide 25 prevents the base of the cartridge case 35 from moving downward until the nose of the projectile has dropped down far enough to prevent the foregoing wedging. In other words, by aligning the flange of the cartridge 35 with the space 28 the auxiliary guide 25 insures that the flange of 35 will lie on top of the flange of the uppermost cartridge of the preceding clip, and this amounts to orienting the cartridge 35 in the required radial position in the feedway, thereby to prevent a jam.

The auxiliary guides 25 and 26 are functionally integral with the respective rails 22 and 24. While the guides 25 and 26 are supplied as attachments to" a current type of gun, this is due to the fact that there is a large number which is subject to the improvement which the invention affords. In manufacturing subsequent feedways however, the rails 22 and 24 will be cast with the guides 25 and 26 in the right places.

In the light of the latter statement, it is obvious that modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

What is claimed. is:

1. A gun loader assembly having an open feed way including an arcuate rear guide for the flanged base of a cartridge, said guide having a rib along the effective face of which rib the base is slidable, said guide having an adjacent rail with a surface radial to said efiective face and having a compression rail concentric with and spaced forwardly of and to one side of the rib, said surface and the innermost edge of the compression rail forming part of a threat for the base portion of the cartridge, in combination, a first auxiliary guide pad carried by said adjacent rail to stand out from said surface and engage broadside against the cartridge case adjacent the flanged base, the edge of said auxiliary guide pad confronting the plane of the rib defining a space so dimensioned as to leave a clearance less than the thickness of the base flange when occupied by said flange, and a second auxiliary guide pad carried by the compression rail, being proximate to the first auxiliary guide pad and extending inwardly of the compression rail to reduce the width of the throat, one side of the base portion of the cartridge riding the lateral edge of said second auxiliary guide pad and keeping the other side of said base portion against the first-named auxiliary guide pad, said first guide pad of much shorter length than the feedway and confined to the vicinity of the feedway entrance thereby serving to prevent improper positioning of the cartridges in the feedway entrance while furnishing a minimum amount of friction to the travel of the cartridge through the feedway.

2. Specifically interrelated means in an open ammunition feedway for guiding loaded cartridges as introduced to prevent base flangeoverlapping and subsequent cartridge jams in the feedway, said means being confined in location to the rear guide of the feedway and in the vicinity of the base fiange and consisting of a first guide pad attached laterally inside of the rear guide to engage the cartridge case broadside and the flange edge-on, and a second guide pad attached to a forward portion or" the rear guide to engage the cartridge case edge-on at a place diagonally opposite and closely proximate to the first guide pad, said first guide pad of much shorter length than the feedway and confined to the vicinity of the feedway entrance thereby serving to prevent improper positioning of the cartridges in the feedway entrance while furnishing a minimum amount of friction to the travel of the cartridge through the feedway.

3. Specifically interrelated means in an open ammunition feedway for guiding loaded cartridges as introduced to prevent base flangeoverlapping and subsequent cartridge jams in the ieedway, said means being confined in location to the rear guide of the feedway and in the vicinity of the base flange and consisting of a first guide pad attached laterally inside of the rear guide to engage the cartridge case broadside and the base flange edge-on, said first guide part being relieved top and bottom on that edge which engages the base flange, and a second guide pad attached to a forward portion of the rear guide to engage the cartridge case edge-on at a place diagonally opposite and closely proximate to the first guide pad, said second guide pad being rounded at the top and relieved on the lower inside end, said first guide pad of much shorter length than the feedway and confined to the vicinity of the feedway entrance thereby serving to prevent improper positioning of the cartridges in the feedway entrance While furnishing a minimum amount of friction to the travel of the cartridge through the feedway.

GERALD W. KINZELMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 229,007 Parkhurst June 22, 1880 351,960 Bruce Nov. 2, 1886 752,648 Bristol Feb. 23, 1904 1,312,048 Redpath Aug. 5, 1919 2,192,677 Hoagland et a1. Mar. 5, 1940 2,424,964 Bowser Apr. 5, 1947 

